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ABC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Cheesemaking meets toxic masculinity in coming-of-age story Holy Cow
In Louise Courvoisier's debut feature film, "Holy cow" is used both as an expletive and as an acknowledgement of the life source that sustains the characters who reside in the film's rural town. What: An emotionally affecting, unassuming coming-of-age story with a cast of non-professional actors. Starring: Clément Faveau, Maïwene Barthelemy. Directed by: Louise Courvoisier. When: In cinemas. Likely to make you feel: Gently transported into the life of rural, working-class children. Holy Cow's coming-of-age story centres on Totone (Clément Faveau), an 18-year-old boy who lives on a farm in the remote French Alps region of Jura with his alcoholic cheesemaker father and seven-year-old sister Claire (Luna Garret). After Claire is left in Totone's care following their father's untimely death, the teen hatches an aspirational plan to win 30,000 euro ($53,500) of prize money in a cheesemaking competition. Many of the actions of Holy Cow's rapscallion protagonist stem from deep feelings of inadequacy and shame in a world that does not allow the space for men to be emotional and complex. Beyond the economic precarity of his life, he labours beneath unspoken rules that govern relations between men and women and lofty gendered expectations that he can not always meet. He violently lashes out at a peer when the subject of his affections rejects him, affects a feigned air of disgust when discussing pleasuring women with his closest male friends, and generally regards women his age as a means to an end. An antidote to the undercurrent of toxic masculinity is Totone's tight-knit friendships with schoolmates Jean-Yves (Mathis Bernard) and Francis (Dimitri Baudry). The way they care for each other is imperfect yet enviable in its ability to counter the grief and trauma that Totone, in particular, is undergoing. Another respite is Totone's guardianship of Claire, who he lovingly and unstintingly cares for to the best of his abilities. Together, Totone, Jean-Yves, Francis and Claire are a hodgepodge quartet muddling their way through life. Central to Totone's ploy to make the best Comté in the region is pilfering grade-A milk from Marie-Lise (Maïwene Barthelemy), a young, straight-talking farmer he starts seeing. The pastoral beauty of Comté cheese country — where Courvoisier herself is from — is expertly evoked through Elio Balezeaux's lens, though the insularity of living in a small town with limited possibilities is depicted in equal measure. Faveau's understated performance as Totone expertly balances trepidation with the increasing realisation that he can break out of the confines of gender and class in his life. Yet, as the film adeptly shows, transcending one's station in life is not as easy as a cheesemaking competition may lead you to believe. Holy Cow could have materialised into a bleak study of poverty and misfortune, but it remains intentionally warm and hopeful despite the mishaps Totone experiences — while not varnishing the challenges of growing up without emotional and material anchors. It is not interested in textbook happy endings or neat resolutions for its characters. They hurt each other and act with a recklessness typical of who they are — children. Instead, it morphs into an optimistic portrait of chosen family and accelerated adulthood, with the cheese a not-so-subtle metaphor for Totone's growing maturity and eventual entry into a world he had no choice but to join. Holy Cow is in Australian cinemas now.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Moove Over, Snow White-French Blockbuster Holy Cow arrives UK and Irish Cinemas This Friday
The multi-award-winning French blockbuster Holy Cow is set to charm audiences in the UK and Ireland as it hits cinemas this Friday, 11 April 2025. LONDON, April 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The debut feature by director Louise Courvoisier, Holy Cow first captivated audiences at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it impressed the Un Certain Regard jury so much that they awarded it a Special Youth Jury Prize. Since then, the film has become a major success in France, grossing over $6.5 million (£5 million) at the box office—outperforming OscarⓇ-winning films Anora, The Substance, and The Brutalist. It has also received widespread critical acclaim, winning both a Lumière Award for Best First Film and a César Award in the same category for Courvoisier. The film's lead actors have also been recognised, with Clément Faveau winning the Lumière Award for Most Promising Actor and Maïwène Barthèlemy taking home the César Award for Female Revelation. Set against the bucolic backdrop of France's Jura region—where Courvoisier hails from—Holy Cow follows Totone (Clément Faveau), a young man who, after the passing of his father, enters an elite Comté cheese-making competition in the hope of winning the prize and providing for his seven-year-old sister. With the help of his two best friends, he embarks on a heartwarming and hilarious journey of cheese-making, self-discovery, and romance, wooing a capable and no-nonsense farmer's daughter (Maïwène Barthèlemy) along the way. Featuring a cast of mostly non-professional actors recruited from the Jura region, Courvoisier also made it a family affair, enlisting various relatives to contribute to everything from set design to the light and summery soundtrack. The film delivers an authentic slice of rural France, proving that, much like cheese, life only gets better with age. Hailed by Time Out as "a moving and humorous coming-of-age story told with brio, avoiding the usual divots of social realism misery," and "delicious on crackers," while Next Big Picture describes Courvoisier as "a passionate new voice in French cinema"—testaments to the film's authenticity and Couvoisier's talent. Catch it in UK and Irish cinemas from 11 April! Images and press assets: For more information on the release and sites Official Trailer For more information please contact:Yung Kha / +44 7788 546 706 Photo - View original content to download multimedia:
